American Van Lines Relocation Division

So first you should understand they are brokers and do not have any equipment.
They bid on my move and I contracted them for the move. The down side to being a broker is when you make a bid sometimes it is hard to find a truck to fulfill the move at the price you quote.
They called me and changed the move date. At that point what choice did I have? When they finally showed up, the truck was not clean. They did not have packing material (I mean any at all). They had to unhitch the trailer and go in search of packing material.
They sent two guys to pack and load my house. That’s for a family of 5! No way were those guys going to get the job done in a day. Even if they had the materials.
Now, I understand they are a broker so may have little control over who they contract out to. But come on, let’s get this right. I’ve called several times on getting my refund and as of yet have not received a return phone call.
They may contract out to other companies sometimes who MIGHT do a great job. But in this case whomever they sent out was not able to execute. Thank goodness after six and a half hours and little progress I had to give them the boot. I can only imagine the shape my stuff would have been in after a cross country move.
Oh year, I’ve noticed they do a great job of replying when they get negative reviews. They do a nice write up on how sorry they are and blah blah blah. If they sent half as much energy providing a good service as combating negative reviews I doubt they would have to so many problems!
Do yourself a favor and find another mover.

NOTE… TODAY OF ALL DAYS… I GOT MY CHECK FROM THE COURT REIMBURSING ME FROM EVIL AVL!!!
Do *NOT* be fooled by the «concerned» reply from AVL. I had to go to Small Claims to get my money back! You’ve got 2 yrs to get your $$ back and don’t settle!!! Once you’ve submitted your claim and they see you’re serious about it… The president’s secretary will try to sweet talk you. However, be sure to take them to court and have it go on their record!!! … I barely spoke to the judge when he awarded me the money! Plus! I got a little more than I originally put down… AT LEAST!!! :D (READ THE PAMPHLET THEY HAVE TO SEND YOU BY LAW!!! KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! READ THE PAMPHLET!)

Just like everyone here, once they have your deposit ($ 1345.00 in my case), they stop returning phone calls and emails. When I called to request my deposit back, because I couldn’t even get a WRITTEN quote for transporting a car with my move, I was put on hold for 15 minutes, then transferred to a generic company voice mail. I asked to speak with a Manager on my 2^nd attempted phone call, and again…15 minutes of hold time, followed by a generic company voice mail. It happened once more, and I left some very choice words on their voice mail… immediately called the BBB and went to my credit card company to dispute the deposit.
Keep in mind, I NEVER SIGNED AN AGREEMENT! When the verbal quote for the car went from $ 500.00 to go from Sacramento to Tacoma, to $ 1195.00…I knew they were shiesty, slimy and untrustworthy. I wouldn’t let this company (or the people they subcontract with) move my trash to the curb, let alone someone’s personal treasures!
They called my land line yesterday, to say I would be getting my deposit back. This is day two with no credit on my account yet. I will flame them on whatever social media outlet I can find… until that money is refunded. I don’t trust a thing they say.
I have to give them 1 star in order to get this review posted… but if it were possible to give them subzero stars… I’d do it.

I did not actually use this business, because they refused to come out and do an onsite estimate. Through my diligent research over the past 3 weeks of moving companies, one thing the experts insist one does, is get an onsite estimate. If the company is not wiling to provide customers with onsite estimates, it’s probably a scam. I explained to the gentleman I spoke with my first requirement, and his response was, «Oh we don’t do those. I don’t think we are good fit for you». Felt like I just dodged a bullet there. He tried to convince me that their computer software system is much more accurate over the phone, then an onsite estimate. I was also told that what the company does is load all of your belongings, take the truck to the nearest DOT weigh station, and then give you the final estimate after the weight. UM. you’re going to load my belongings in New York City and then go find a weigh station??? That could take a day in and of itself. HMMM I smell something rotten…

If these guys try to get your business, do not walk, do not pass go, do not collect $ 200, run away as fast as you can.
These smooth-​talking salesmen (and I used the gendered term because I only ever spoke to men on the phone) will happily take your deposit and never speak to you again. Once they have you locked in, they’re not interested in your concerns.
Once I was on to their scam, I called over and over again to cancel our service. Surprise, surprise… they didn’t answer the phone. The deliberately avoid contact with the customers so that 1.) They don’t have to do any actual work aside from the initial sale and 2.) The customer can’t cancel when they wise up to what’s up.
I’m glad I decided to cut my losses and get the hell out. Now they won’t return my deposit. I disputed the charge for my deposit with the bank and reported them to the Attorney Generals’ offices in every state in which they list an address (Arizona, California, and Florida… sketchy.)
I don’t know how these guys sleep at night with the way they do business, but I know I’ve been sleeping a lot better since I said, «Thanks, but no thanks.»

Needed to move a car from San Diego to Central Calif ASAP. Was told that the trucker would have to dead head a truck from LA so the original price went up significantly. Trucking company used was actually in the area and only minutes away. — A bogus bump — Acting as the broker/​logistics coordinator they did not inform the trucking company of the required delivery time and it would have been a total disaster if the trucker had not been willing to drop everything and deliver the car once I explained the situation.
I do not, nor could I in good conscience, recommend this company to anyone.

DISHONEST. They contacted me after I had already put down a (small) deposit for another company. I gave them the other company’s MC number, which allows lookup of DOT records. The AVL representative told me I would be in «bad shape» if I went with them because he saw that their carrier certification had been revoked. He emailed me the page listing the other carrier’s revocation history and the AVL’s own page, which he said showed a perfect history.
It turned out that the page he emailed me for the other carrier only showed revocations, not the very quick reinstatement, which was visible one click away. The email he sent me for AVL’s records looked mysteriously blank for the content area. When I looked up AVL’s records myself, I found that they too had a history of revocation, in one case for almost two years. This is evidently a FUD tactic they use on competitors.
AVL also insisted that a shuttle would be required for any move to San Francisco, which turns out to not be true.
HIGH-​PRESSURE. When I said that I wanted to get off the phone for a bit to check in with the other company, the rep use high-​pressure tactics. He said the only way he could offer the quoted price and availability was if I gave my card number and paid $ 900 right then over the phone (for a move quoted overall at $ 2700).
CONFUSING QUOTES. The quote they sent me involved a ton of sky-​high fees followed by absurd «discounts» like 73% off transportation fees and about $ 1000 storage-​in-​transit (SIT) fees. Everything is broken into vague line items (like «Orig. Service Charge» and «Binding Estimate Fee») that make comparing costs hard versus other quotes. A company should just tell me how much something costs without a runaround.